Despite Being Called the 'City of Bread'... Famous Bakery in Cheonan Caught Making Bread Amid Cement Dust

Cheonan City Imposes Fine and Business Suspension

Cheonan City in Chungnam Province, which has been emerging as a local attraction while branding itself as the "city of bread," is currently embroiled in controversy after allegations surfaced that a well-known bakery supplied bread containing cement to a distributor.

According to coverage by Asia Economy on the 11th, this bakery has participated in the "Bbangbbang Day" event promoted by Cheonan City since 2021 and was also listed as one of the region's top bakeries in the "Bbangso" selection.

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Notably, last year the bakery even won the gold prize at the 1st "Bbangbbang Bakery Contest" hosted by Cheonan City.

However, on the 18th of last month, the bakery was caught producing bread in poor conditions with cement dust flying around during interior construction, and was fined 500,000 won. The business, which should have strictly adhered to food hygiene and consumer safety, failed to follow even basic hygiene regulations.

Furthermore, a report was filed alleging that bread containing cement was supplied to a distributor, and Cheonan City subsequently issued a business suspension order to the bakery.

The bakery owner claimed, "The bread was supplied from a different branch, not the one where the issue occurred," but the city imposed a business suspension on the 17th, citing incomplete production logs and ingredient records.

A city official stated, "Upon re-inspection on the 10th, it was found that not only the branch that received the suspension order but also all other branches were closed and preparing for shutdown," adding, "Although the branch designated as Bbangso is in a different line of business than the one where the problematic bread was made, we plan to take action."

The official continued, "Immediately after the incident, we conducted a full inspection of all bakeries designated as Bbangso and found no issues," and added, "When finalizing the list of bakeries participating in the Bbangjisure Bbangbbang Day event scheduled for June, we plan to conduct a full inspection to ensure the supply of hygienic and safe food."